Amendment Paper as at
Wednesday 31st October 2001
CONSIDERATION OF BILL
ELECTORAL FRAUD (NORTHERN IRELAND) BILL, AS AMENDED
NEW CLAUSES
Voters: specified documents
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) From 1st April 2003, paragraph (1E) of rule 37 of the parliamentary election rules applicable to elections in Northern Ireland, imported into Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 by section 1(2) of the Elections (Northern Ireland) Act 1985 (c. 2), is amended in accordance with subsection (2).
(2) Sub-paragraphs (a) to (g) are omitted and the following are inserted:
"(a) the plastic photographic card which is, or forms the counterpart of, a current licence to drive a motor vehicle;
(b) a current passport issued by the Government of the United Kingdom or by the Government of the Republic of Ireland;
(c) a senior citizen's concessionary fare pass issued by the Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development;
(d) a current electoral identity card issued under section 13C of this Act.".'.
Registration: notification of multiple registrations
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
Mr Peter Robinson
Mrs Iris Robinson
NC2
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) In section 10 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (maintenance of registers: annual canvass) there is inserted—
"(5A) The information to be obtained by the use of such a form for the purposes of a canvass in Northern Ireland shall include an indication of any other address at which the person is registered."
(2) In section 10A (maintenance of the registers: registration of electors) and in section 13A (alteration of registers) of the 1983 Act there is inserted—
"( ). An application for registration in respect of an address in Northern Ireland shall include an indication of any other address at which the person is registered."
(3) Any person knowingly giving false information in response to any requirement of this section is guilty of an offence with liability on summary conviction to—
(a) imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months; or
(b) a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale,
or to both.'.
Petition period
Mr David Trimble
Lady Hermon
NC3
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) Section 122 (time for presentation or amendment of parliamentary election petition) of the 1983 Act is amended as follows—
(a) "six weeks" shall be substituted for any reference to "21 days"; and
(b) in subsection (5) the second word "within" is omitted and the words "up to a further 28 days after" are inserted.
(2) Section 129 (time for presentation or amendment of petition questioning local election) of the 1983 Act is amended as follows—
(a) "six weeks" shall be substituted for any reference to "21 days"; and
(b) in subsection (6) the second word "within" is omitted and the words "up to a further 28 days after" are inserted.'.
Validity of election results
Mr David Trimble
Lady Hermon
NC4
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) In the 1983 Act, section 23 (rules for parliamentary elections) shall be amended as follows.
(2) After subsection (2) the following shall be inserted—
"(2A) A returning officer shall investigate the conduct of a particular election for which he is the returning officer upon:
(a) receipt of a complaint that the election should be invalid by reason of an act or omission of a returning officer; or
(b) being notified of the presentation of a parliamentary election petition; or
(c) being notified of the presentation of a local election petition,
and make any information obtained in the course of such an investigation available to the parties to legal proceedings under Part III of this Act."
(3) In paragraph (3)(a) after "election" there is inserted "within the paralimentary constituency in question"; and
(4) In paragraph (3)(b) the words "did not effect" are omitted and the words "could not have affected" are inserted.'.
Stamping time of issue on ballot paper
Mr David Trimble
Lady Hermon
NC5
To move the following Clause:—
'In the 1983 Act in Schedule 1, rule 37(1), after sub-paragraph (a) there is inserted—
"(aa) the ballot paper shall be stamped with the time of issue".'.
Adjournment of poll on direction of returning officer
Mr David Trimble
Lady Hermon
NC6
To move the following Clause:—
'In the 1983 Act in Schedule 1, after rule 42, the following rule is inserted—
"(42A) In the event that a presiding officer fails to close the poll in accordance with electoral rules a constable on duty at the poll shall, if directed to do so by the returning officer for that constituency, close the poll.".'.
Investigations by Electoral Commission into validity of elections
Mr David Trimble
Lady Hermon
NC7
To move the following Clause:—
'In the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c.41) the following section is inserted—
"5A. Investigations into validity of elections
The Electoral Commission shall investigate the conduct of a particular election upon:
(a) receipt of a complaint that the election should be invalid, or
(b) being notified of the presentation of a parliamentary election petition under the Representation of the People Act 1983, or
(c) being notified of the presentation of a local election petition,
and make any information obtained in the course of such an investigation available to the parties to legal proceedings under Part III of the Representation of the People Act 1983.".'.
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
Mr Peter Robinson
Mrs Iris Robinson
1
Page 1, line 10 [Clause 1], after 'completed', insert—
'(aa) the National Insurance number of each such person, if they have one'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
7
Page 1, line 11 [Clause 1], at end insert 'and
(c) the national insurance number of each such person, if they have one.'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
11
Page 1, line 16 [Clause 1], after 'satisfied', insert 'by evidence'.
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
Lembit Öpik
8
Page 2, line 9 [Clause 1], at end insert 'and
(c) the national insurance number of each such person, if they have one.'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
12
Page 2, line 15 [Clause 1], after 'satisfied', insert 'by evidence'.
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
Mr Peter Robinson
Mrs Iris Robinson
2
Page 2, line 23 [Clause 1], leave out 'both his date of birth' and insert 'his date of birth, his national insurance number if applicable,'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
14
Page 2, line 25 [Clause 1], after '(5A)', insert—
'(cc) after subsection (7) there is inserted—
"(7A) the prescribed period in subsection (6) above cannot exceed three years.".'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
9
Page 2, line 33 [Clause 1], at end insert 'and
(c) the national insurance number of each such person, if they have one.'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
13
Page 2, line 38 [Clause 1], after 'satisfied', insert 'by evidence'.
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
Mr Peter Robinson
Mrs Iris Robinson
3
Page 3, line 36 [Clause 3], after 'application', insert 'is made on a form supplied by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland containing such marking or coding as he may determine,'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
15
Page 3, line 47 [Clause 2], at end insert—
'(2A) In section 6 (absent vote at elections for an indefinite period) after subsection (1) there is inserted—
"(1A) Any application under subsection (1) for an absent vote must be by means of an application form provided by the Chief Electoral Officer; and
(1B) Any application form supplied by the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection (1A) shall be marked with a bar code unique to each form.".'.
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
Mr Peter Robinson
Mrs Iris Robinson
4
Page 4, line 4 [Clause 3], after 'application', insert 'is made on a form supplied by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland containing such marking or coding as he may determine,'.
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
Mr Peter Robinson
Mrs Iris Robinson
5
Page 4, line 15 [Clause 3], at end insert—
'(3A) In section 6 (absent vote at elections for an indefinite period) and in section 7 (absent vote at a particular election), there is inserted at the end of paragraph (1)(c) the words—
", which shall include the date of birth and the national insurance number of the applicants, if applicable".'.
Mr Harry Barnes
19
Page 5, line 6 [Clause 4], after 'may', insert 'be obliged to'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
16
Page 5, line 17 [Clause 4], at end insert—
'(4A) The information contained in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (4) above shall also be stored electronically on a computer chip incorporated into the electoral identity card provided for by this section.'.
Mr Harry Barnes
18
Page 5, line 28 [Clause 4], leave out from 'documents)' to 'a' in line 29 and insert 'for sub-paragraphs (a) to (g) there is substituted'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
10
Page 5, line 29 [Clause 4], at end insert—
'(4) In Schedule 1 (parliamentary election rules), in rule 37(1E) (specified documents), sub-paragraphs (c) to (g) are omitted.
(5) Subsection 4 shall come into force on 30th April 2003, or 15 months after the coming into force of the rest of this section, whichever is the latter.'.
Lembit Öpik
Lady Hermon
Mr David Trimble
17
Page 6, line 37 [Clause 7], leave out from 'appoint' to end of line 39.
Mr Quentin Davies
Mr Crispin Blunt
Mr John Hayes
Mr Peter Robinson
Mrs Iris Robinson
6
Title, line 2, after 'signatures', insert ', national insurance numbers.'.
